U.S. Poverty Weekly Update August 30, 2016
U.S. Poverty Campaigns
Weekly Update | August 30, 2016
“The entire U.S. tax code needs an overhaul, but among the lowest-hanging fruit is the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to childless workers — the only demographic currently being taxed into poverty.”
– RESULTS Salt Lake City volunteer Debbie Baskin an August 24 letter to the editor in the St. George Spectrum (UT)
- Got Two Minutes? Use Your Last Chance to Talk to Members of Congress this Summer (August Action)
- Got Ten Minutes? Invite Lawmakers and Aides to Hunger in America Exhibition on September 7
- Got Sixty Minutes? Register and Attend Tomorrow’s PolicyLink Webinar on the Racial Wealth Gap
- Remember to Share Your 2017 Fundraising Goals with Us
- Quick News
- Upcoming Events
Quick Action: Urge the Hunger Question in the Presidential Debates
| Take Action! |
Got Two Minutes? Use Your Last Chance to Talk to Members of Congress this Summer (August Action)
Congress returns to Washington next week. That means you have just seven days to talk with them at town halls and public events about expanding the EITC, reducing the racial wealth gap, and protecting SNAP. If you have not contacted your House and Senate schedulers recently asking about events in your area, please do so today. Remember, they add events at the last minute so it’s best to check with them each week. Plus, you have an added bonus of a holiday weekend. Many communities hold Labor Day parades and this being an election year, members of Congress and candidates are more likely to appear at them.
Make sure the last thing your members of Congress hear about before heading back to DC is the importance of addressing poverty in America.
TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to contact schedulers to find out about town halls and public events in your area. Plan to attend and ask a question. You can find websites for members of Congress on our Elected Officials page and for candidates on our Elections page. The August Action has tips to prepare for town halls, as well as sample questions you can ask. If you plan to attend a local parade to talk to a lawmaker or candidate, your best bet is to arrive early and go to the staging area where the parade begins. Many times, parade participants are simply hanging around waiting for it to start, so they have time to talk. If you find an event you plan to attend, please contact Meredith Dodson ([email protected]) to set up a lobby prep call to help you get ready.
Got Ten Minutes? Invite Lawmakers and Aides to Hunger in America Exhibition on September 7
September is Hunger Action Month, which is a great opportunity to draw attention to America’s hunger crisis and committing yourself to act. Action from Congress is our best chance to end hunger for millions. That’s why RESULTS is joining with Feeding America and others to take Hunger Action Month to Capitol Hill by bringing a hard-hitting special exhibit right to lawmakers’ doorsteps.
In addition to the data around hunger, this event features the stories of individuals in need from every state and DC. These are our neighbors and community members. These are people legislators need to know live in the communities they represent and how the legislation they consider impacts the everyday lives of millions. Contact your congressional offices and tell them that ending hunger is important to you and that you expect them to visit the Hunger in America Exhibition. This exhibition will be for one day only – September 7 – so it’s important that they use this rare opportunity to read the stories of those struggling with hunger from across the country.
TAKE ACTION: Contact your House and Senate Agriculture/Nutrition aides to ask them and their bosses to the Hunger in America Congressional Exhibition on Wednesday, September 7, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm ET, in the Rayburn House Building Foyer. The exhibition is free. Send them a copy of the Exhibition flyer and urge them to RSVP at [email protected]. Find aide names and office contact information on our Elected Officials page
Got Sixty Minutes? Register and Attend Tomorrow’s PolicyLink Webinar on the Racial Wealth Gap
To maintain on our ongoing education on how best to address the growing racial wealth gap in America, we have another resource to help. Our friends at PolicyLink are hosting a webinar this week to discuss systemic ways to address the racial wealth gap. From PolicyLink:
“Building the long-term financial security of low-income households and households of color involves harnessing an array of resources and institutional supports that enable vulnerable families to thrive and move up the economic ladder. It also requires reforming systems—finance, education, justice, health, and tax—that often strip assets and wealth.”
The webinar will highlight findings from the 2015 PolicyLink report: Breaking the Cycle: From Poverty to Financial Security for All and discuss how systems perpetuate poverty and financial insecurity for low-income people and communities of color. State and city leaders, including Mary Dupont, Director of Financial Empowerment at the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services and Sean Klein, Director of the Office of Financial Empowerment in San Francisco will both speak, along with moderator Christopher Brown, Director for Financial Security at PolicyLink.
Join this informative webinar and deepen your knowledge about the racial wealth gap and explore ideas on how to fix it.
TAKE ACTION: Take sixty minutes this week to register and attend PolicyLink’s webinar Moving Toward Financial Security For All: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap through Systems Reform. The webinar is tomorrow, August 31 at 11:00 am ET. Register for the event at the PolicyLink website. Urge others you know to register and attend as well.
Be sure to also check out PolicyLink’s National Equity Atlas, which provides data on what an inclusive economy would look like for communities of color.
Remember to Share Your 2017 Fundraising Goals with Us
As noted last week, the RESULTS Development Team needs your help. They want your input on our 2017 grassroots fundraising budget. Every year, RESULTS groups raise money for RESULTS to help fund our work. So that we can accurately estimate what that amount will be in 2017 budget, we ask that you share your group’s 2017 fundraising plans and goals with us now. Even if you haven’t thought about it until now, that’s fine; we just need a general idea of your potential plans.
Here are the simple steps to take:
- At your next RESULTS group meeting, take a few minutes to decide what fundraising you plan to do in 2017, including type of campaign (Friend & Family, event, or both), when you might do it, and how much you hope to raise.
- Fill out this Google form by September 21. Ideally, fill out the survey while your group is meeting so you can go through the questions together.
That’s it. And just think, when group planning begins next January, your fundraising plans will already be done. If you need help filling out the form or have questions about your fundraising group plan, please contact Mea Geizhals, Grassroots Fundraising Manager, at [email protected] or (202) 783-4800, x. 131.
Quick News
Demand Hunger Question in Presidential Debates. Vote to End Hunger (VTEH), of which RESULTS is a member, is working to make presidential candidates articulate their plans to end hunger and poverty in the U.S. and around the world. To do that, VTEH has a petition urging the Presidential Debate Commission to include the following question in one of the presidential debates – If elected, what will you do to end hunger, alleviate poverty, and create opportunity in the US and worldwide? Sign the petition today and urge others you know to do the same at: http://votetoendhunger.org/petition-to-the-presidential-debate-commission/.
Register for CHN’s Poverty Data Webinar. Don’t forget to register for CHN’s 2016 Poverty Data webinar on September 7. This annual webinar will walk you through the process of the September 13 release of the U.S. Census 2015 U.S. Poverty Data, including what to expect from the data and how to search it. Senior Fellow at CBPP Jared Bernstein, CHN’s Debbie Weinstein, and Ellen Teller of FRAC will speak. The webinar is next Wednesday, September 7 at 3:00 pm ET. Register for it today on the CHN website.
Report Links EITC to Higher Educational Attainment in Children. Last week, policy experts held a briefing in Washington highlighting the results of recent research on the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and educational outcomes. The research shows that children who live in households with large EITC refunds have better test scores and better educational attainment than children who do not. This is especially true for young boys and children of color. When talking with members of Congress and tax aides this summer and fall, be sure to send them the link to this important research.
Upcoming Events
Go to the RESULTS Events Calendar to see a full list of RESULTS events. Also, find a list of the RESULTS U.S. Poverty staff with contact information on the RESULTS website.
U.S. Poverty Staff Vacation Schedule: Jos Linn, August 31 – September 5.
Congressional Recesses: Monday, July 18 – Monday, September 5 (House and Senate). Request face-to-face meetings. After your meeting, please tell us how it went by filling out the RESULTS Lobby Report Form: www.tinyurl.com/RESLRF.
Labor Day Holiday, Monday, September 5. All RESULTS offices will be closed starting at 2:00 pm ET on Friday, September 2 – Monday, September 5.
Hunger in America Congressional Exhibition, Wednesday, September 7, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm ET. Rayburn House Office Foyer, Washington, DC. See details here.
CHN Poverty Data Webinar, Wednesday, September 7 at 3:00 pm ET. Register at the CHN website.
RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar, Saturday, September 10 at 12:30 pm ET. Join online at http://fuze.me/32255914 or by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32255914#. Listen to previous webinars on our National Webinars page.
U.S. Census 2015 Poverty Data Release, Tuesday, September 13. Find the data at: http://www.census.gov/topics/income-poverty/poverty.html.
RESULTS Introductory Call, Friday, September 14 at 9:00 pm ET. If you want to learn more about RESULTS, register for an upcoming Intro Call on the RESULTS website.
RESULTS U.S. Poverty Free Agents Calls, Tuesday, September 20 at 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm ET. To participate, login in at http://fuze.me/32256018 or dial by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32256018#.
If you have a question, comment or suggestion for the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Board, please e-mail them to RESULTS Grassroots Board Member Vanessa Garcia at [email protected]. You can download RESULTS’ most recent Annual Report at: https://results.org/about/annual_report/.